540 



hundred specimens divided among fifty different species ; while the 

 loss of time in sorting and arranging, might be nearly fifty times great- 

 er in the latter case,] 



8. The specimens are required to be sufficient examples of their 

 species. Small plants should be sent entire, roots inclusive. Long 

 plants should be folded to a convenient size. No fragments ought 

 to be sent, unless in the case of trees, or other large and branched 

 plants, which cannot be folded within the proper dimensions. — [N.B. 

 The figures in Newman's 'British Ferns,' second edition, pp. 122, 209, 

 215, 223, &c., afford examples of folded specimens. In a parcel late- 

 ly received from the Azores, plants of three and four feet long were 

 sent entire, having been carefully folded before they were dried in 

 Bentall's sixteen-inch drying paper.] 



9. Specimens ought never to exceed fifteen inches in length when 

 dried. If longer, they must be bent and folded to that length while 

 fresh. — [N. B. The Society's duplicate paper is seventeen inches in 

 length, — a size seldom exceeded in herbaria. The specimens should 

 be considerably shorter than the paper in which they are to be kept, 

 in order to lessen the chance of breaking in turning over the duplicate 

 store, while selecting the desiderata of Members.] 



10. The specimens should be pressed in porous paper, sufficient in 

 quantity to dry them rapidly, and thus to preserve their colour, — 

 being also placed under a pressure sufficiently heavy to keep their 

 leaves from becoming wrinkled and brittle. — [N. B. It is quite evi- 

 dent that inexperienced botanists frequently use too slight pressure, 

 and very frequently put too many specimens into their drying paper 

 at once. It is better to dry a half or a quarter the number, and to do 

 it properly.] 



11. It is found necessary to require, in future, that all British spe- 

 cimens, sent for exchange, he labelled by the Contributors themselves ; 

 the labels to be attached to the specimens in such a manner, as to 

 leave the number and the name perfectly clear and uncovered by the 

 specimen. — [N. B. A single slit at the base of the label, or in any 

 blank part of it, is a quick and convenient mode of attachment. But 

 the neatest method hitherto in use, is that of placing the specimen 

 wholly behind the label, and attaching it thereto by a small strip of 

 gummed paper ; as in many of the Irish specimens from Mr. Andrews, 

 dated in 1845.] 



12. The labels are expected to show the following particulars, — 

 at least so far as the Contributor's knowledge can supply them : — 



